Irish Frustration

Kay Adamson

Ali.M. Pili

Kay, wow! You have done a great job of researching and as a result you have a lot of helpful information about your ancestor which provides a great research foundation. I have a few thoughts and questions for you to help me better provide some suggestions.

1. What websites have you checked for records of his birth? In the National Library of Ireland it indicates for his Catholic parish of Muckalee, Kilkenny that no baptisms exist except around 1801-1806 and not again until 1840. https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0997 Remember, the Catholic priests were not officially allowed to keep Catholic baptismal records until 1822 or after. I would be surprised if you found any records for Michael or his father likely named Edmond or Edward. It is difficult, but one must accept, as I have had to on several of my Irish lines, that certain records simply do not exist for that era. (Check neighboring parishes in case they were kept there.)
2. There is the possibility that he was not Catholic, although not very likely in that area. Have you checked the subscription site of Roots Ireland for any possible Church of Ireland records for him? The Church of Ireland actually had most of their records destroyed so even if they once existed they may not now exist. Check them out at: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Church_of_Ireland_Records
3. On John Grenham's site you will find a list of available records for Muckalee Civil Parish (AKA Fassadinin): https://www.johngrenham.com/c_parish/c_parish_main.php?civilparishid=1391&county=Kilkenny&civilparish=Muckalee%20(Fassadinin)&CountyMap=.
4. I would encourage you to use some census substitutes such as tithe applotment (taxation) records. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Tithe_Applotment_Books_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records. Although it only names head of household it may help you locate Michael's father or even Michael in those records.
5. When searching his records, just keep a very flexible age range. People who were illiterate had little reason to know their exact age in a world where it was quite irrelevant for most aspects of life. I imagine he went to England to earn money for the trip to America. That was very common. My Irish ancestors reported ages as varied as 20 years!
6. Have you checked the blm.gov glo (government land office) https://glorecords.blm.gov/ records in America and census records for his siblings or parents who may have become his neighbors although they likely would have arrived later? I was surprised to find some of my ancestors' elderly parents came with their from Ireland. (Some may have gone in England and many Irish stayed there so check that out, too.)

I hope that although I gave you the unfortunate news about the Catholic parish records, you can find substitute records.

Good luck!

Ali M. Pili